


Through All Things

by LadyofAvalon



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Legacy of the Force Series - Aaron Allston & Troy Denning & Karen Traviss
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 09:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyofAvalon/pseuds/LadyofAvalon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Invisible AU.  Jaina Solo failed.  She is being held captive by Caedus while a strike team is being assembled.  There is one person in the galaxy who can save her, but he died many years ago at Myrkr, didn't he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Returning

The Netherworld of the Force was a peaceful place. At one time, it was rarely disturbed, even by the Sith. Now was a different time. Now, a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Caedus had turned the peaceful abyss on its head.

Far off, on an all too familiar jungle planet, a lone figure stood. He was an ethereal being, at the most. The glow of an inner blue light shrouded his face from any onlookers that might happen by.

"Why do you stand here, my boy?" The young man turned, icy light azure eyes flicked over the wraith that appeared out of the mists.

"I stand here because I need to. I stand here because I there is no one left to stand against him. I have to do something, Vergere," he told his new companion. Unruly dark hair fell into his eyes, shadowing the look of deep disappointment in his eyes. "Caedus defeated Jaina. He's holding her a prisoner, to make an example out of her, for the rest of the family. There's no one left. Something has to be done." He paused, staring off into the mists of the jungle moon.

The other, Vergere, moved closer to him. "You know what to do, youngling. Do as I have taught you. You know that only you can do it. Only you can save him." With that, his fellow Force-wraith disappeared from sight, leaving him to his thoughts.

Now his mind was made up. It was the second chance that he never thought that he would have. All he had to do was recreate what had been destroyed. He could stop the war that would send the galaxy into utter chaos and stop the destruction. He could even save her, the one he loved. Maybe there was a chance for him after all.

After another few moments, he settled down to begin his little project and pick his destination.

Halfway across the galaxy, on Coruscant, a small group of Jedi sat around an even smaller table deep in the cityscape. Jedi Masters Luke Skywalker, Kyp Durron, and Corran Horn, Jedi Knights Valin Horn and Zekk, and Jedi Apprentice Ben Skywalker sat quietly, each pondering what their plan needed to be. They had to bring down Caedus, and this was their last chance.

He'd captured Jaina when she'd tried to defeat him. He wouldn't kill her, but he tortured her. All of them could feel both her mental and her physical agony through the Force. She'd failed. It was tearing her up that she'd failed. She had been her brother's last hope for redemption. Now she just wished that he would get it over with and kill her like she knew he was planning.

"We'll have to sneak into his quarters, or there's no chance," Zekk said. "He doesn't leave his quarters very much anymore, unless he has to." The young Jedi placed a datapad on the table. He pressed a button, and a hologram appeared. The layout of the building where Caedus's apartment appeared over the screen. "We can enter here," he indicated a duct that would take them directly to the Sith Lord's quarters. "Jace-Caedus does his training there. If we can get the timing right, then we can ambush him, and take him down," the dark haired Jedi told the rest of the group.

Kyp shook his head. "No, that won't work. He won't fight us if we all go in. He'll run. He knows that the Jedi Masters have been attacking him in groups since he nearly killed Kyle. He won't go for it if all six of us go at him. He'll make a run for it and either take his little apprentice with him, or send her to get rid of us at the cost of her life." The Jedi Master glared at the wall, almost, almost wanting to take out his fury on something.

He'd watched Jacen and Jaina grow up. It hurt him to see that the innocent, animal-crazy, bad-joke-cracking Jacen Solo had become the dark, ruthless psychopathic Darth Caedus. It hurt him just as much to think that Han was going to lose both of his sons. Anakin's death had been an accident, but also a sacrifice. Anakin had been willing to die for the Jedi, and for his family. Jacen had to be killed. There was no one left to try to save him. Even Luke had given up, for all that Luke had seen the light within Darth Vader, who had been given up as lost by everyone else.

"And I suppose you have a better idea?" Zekk challenged. Kyp turned his glare on the younger Jedi.

"No, but you can't kill what you can't catch." Zekk promptly shut his mouth, but glared at Kyp. He muttered something about Kyp being an 'arrogant git' under his breath before the Jedi Master decided to ignore him.

It was then that Ben and Corran noticed the blue glow that was growing of its own accord on the opposite side of the small room. The two exchanged glances, Corran's hand flying to his lightsaber.

"What can we do, then?" Valin asked, voicing the question that was on Zekk and Kyp's minds. No one said anything, while Ben and Corran watched as the glow continued to grow in size and strength.

 _What in the world is it?_ Corran wondered. He'd been a Jedi for thirty years and had never seen anything like it before, and he'd seen some pretty interesting things.

A frown creased Ben's forehead, there was something coming from whatever the light was. It was...a presence of some sort, just barely there. He felt like he should know who it was, but it wouldn't come to him. He shot a glance at his father, who seemed to have noticed it. Zekk and Kyp were still glaring at each other, but Valin, too, had noticed it.

The glow began to take form as clouds. The clouds sparked and fizzled with power as whatever it was grew closer. They expanded, mist flowing toward the Jedi. Kyp and Zekk had begun talking again, arguing about what had to be done, and whether they would try to turn Caedus or kill him. "Then what's the point! There's no one who can stand up to him anymore!" Zekk yelled.

A brilliant flash of light filled the room, followed by a bang that rocked the building, knocking all of them to the ground. They all looked up to see that the cloud had become a vortex. The energies flowing from it were almost overwhelming Light Side waves.

Within a few seconds, all six of them were on their feet, lightsabers in their hands and ignited. Seconds crawled by, then a minute, then two. They finally began to relax when a dark shape hurtled out of the misty vortex. It skidded across the ground and rolled into Corran, knocking the Jedi Master into his two colleagues, who caught him.

"Ow," the shape said, rolling onto its back. Everyone but Ben gasped when the person got to his feet and stepped into the light.

"Did you – What the – How did – Did you see what he just did?" The incredulous Zekk demanded. No one else spoke as the Jedi gazed upon a fallen hero who had returned. The silence was heavy on the air until Valin broke it by stepping forward and offering the other young man a hand in friendship.

"It's good to see you again, my friend. You haven't changed a bit." A lopsided grin split the ice-eyed youth's face, and he grasped his old friend's hand. He turned to Luke, still grinning.

"Is there room on your team for one more, Uncle Luke?" He asked. Anakin Solo was back, and he meant business. No one was going to bring down the galaxy on his watch.


	2. Breathing

_It's good to be back,_ Anakin Solo thought as he watched his uncle. The young man had been dead for over thirteen years, and suddenly, here he was. The other Jedi in the small room were still dumbfounded. Anakin had been killed on the Myrkr mission, about three years into the war with the Yuuzhan Vong.

None of them had ever thought that they would see him again, for more than one reason – his body had been burned in a traditional Jedi funeral on Hapes. Not to mention, no one had ever returned from the dead, not even one of the Jedi.

"Er, of course, Anakin. You are welcome to join us," Luke said. The Grand Master of the Jedi Order shook his head, trying to clear it enough to think. This was a very interesting situation. If Anakin had come back from the dead through the Force…did that mean that Mara could, too? Anakin must have seen the look on his uncle's face, because he spoke.

"She won't come back, Uncle Luke. Aunt Mara knew that it was the end, and she won't come back. She said that she loves you, though. And she told me to tell you to 'kill the kriffing Sith', as she put it." A half smile flickered across Luke's face when Anakin said that, but only for a moment. His blue eyes clouded as he thought of his wife, who had been killed by Caedus several months before. The Jedi Master nodded and turned away.

Ben shifted and walked over to his father in an attempt to comfort him. Anakin watched for a moment, then turned to Kyp and Zekk, who were standing by the table that still had Zekk's datapad on it, to grant his uncle and cousin some privacy.

"What are the plans?" He asked. Zekk reached toward the table, picked up the datapad, and handed it to Anakin while still staring at the ice-eyed youth. "Zekk, stop staring. It's really me." Zekk blinked his dark-ringed emerald eyes several times.

"Oh. Sorry, Anakin." Zekk stepped away, rather weary of his old friends' younger brother.

"How did you do it?" Kyp asked. Anakin turned to frown at him.

"What?"

"Did you really die, or have you been alive all this time? If you did die, then how did you come back?" The middle-aged Jedi asked.

"I died, Kyp, on the Myrkr mission. How did I come back? An old friend taught me a thing or two about the Force…." Anakin gave Kyp one of the famous Solo grins. "I know what you're thinking. You can't use the technique unless you're dead, and even then, only a select few can, and I'm the only one who has ever tried it and gotten success. Don't even think about it, Kyp." Corran chuckled from where he stood, next to Kyp.

"The kid's got you figured out, Durron…" Corran said. Kyp gave Corran a look that said 'shut up or you _will_ regret it.' Everyone in the room chuckled at that.

"Alright, so. Let's get this figured out," Anakin said, holding up Zekk's datapad.

* * *

It was a few hour later when three of them – Anakin, Corran, and Zekk – crouched on top of the building where Caedus' apartment was located. They could feel his presence in the building. There was another one that was also very familiar, but the feelings coming from the other presence were so odd, tainted, that none of them could recognize who it was.

Anakin's grip on the spare lightsaber he had been given tightened. He closed his eyes for a moment, calming himself. He was surprised by how nervous he was. This was his brother, after all. For just a moment, he wondered what it would be like for Jacen if he was in Anakin's position.

There was a clatter in front of him, where Zekk had been working on getting the vent open. "Oops."

"What did you do, Zekk?" Corran asked, putting a hand over his face, covering his eyes for a moment.

"Uh. I dropped the grate and it made a loud noise?"

Corran made a noise of pure exasperation. "How did you drop it? It wasn't even large enough to go through the blasted hole."

"I don't know, alright!"

Corran shook his head at the younger Jedi. Zekk shrugged and slipped into the opening. Corran followed, then Anakin.

They crawled through the shafts for quiet some time, checking their location every once in a while.

Finally, Zekk stopped crawling and started prying another grate open. Corran watched him pointedly until Zekk got annoyed.

"If you don't think I can do it without dropping it, why don't you just use the Force to levitate it?" Zekk was being a smart-aleck, and he knew it. Everyone in the Jedi Order knew that the Halcyon family had always had problems with telekinesis and that Corran was a Halcyon in all but name due to his father being adopted by Rostek Horn. Corran glared at Zekk, wishing several rather nasty things upon the Jedi Knight.

"Be quiet, bug-boy. You'll give away our position." After that comment, neither of the other Jedi spoke until Zekk had gotten the grille up. He checked the room beneath them, then he and Corran jumped down, landing softly on the mat below. Anakin followed after a slight pause.

Just a moment after they landed, a few small lights flickered on. The person standing in the doorway was certainly not Caedus. Anakin could tell that much even though he could not see who it was.

The snap-hiss of a lightsaber being activated filled the room. Anakin moved slightly, just enough that he could see who it was but they could not see who he was.

The sight of a young blond woman greeted him. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, giving her pretty features a harsh look. Vertical white lines stood out against the skin of her forehead. Those scars were the souvenir of time Anakin had rescued her from the Yuuzhan Vong shapers. His eyes ventured to hers. Instead of the clear green he was looking for, he saw yellow irises, tinged with orange close to the rim. There was only a slim corona of green surrounding the color her eyes had become.

"Tahiri, don't," Zekk said, holding up one hand. His other hand rested on his lightsaber.

"I am not Tahiri! My name is Darth Eresa!" She called. The blade she held was not the brilliant sapphire one that she had built at the academy on Yavin 4. It was the scarlet of fresh blood.

She took a step forward. Instantly, Zekk's yellow-orange blade was ignited and in a guard position. Within a moment, Corran's silver blade was ignited as well.

"And who's that behind you? That coward, Ben Skywalker?" She sneered. Zekk and Corran exchanged glances but did not move. Then they glanced at Anakin, who shook his head.

"No," he said. Anakin stepped out so that she could see him.

"Wha – no! You – you – but – you can't be Anakin! He's dead!" Tahiri shouted, reeling back.

"Tahiri, are you listening to yourself?" Anakin asked. "Do you hear what you just said?" He took a step closer to her. She was staring at him with horrified eyes.

"But, but, Anakin, you can't be! There's no way…is there?" Her expression softened slightly and she lowered her blade. Her hands shook as she held the hilt. Finally, she dropped it, letting the lightsaber extinguish.

Tears began to stream down her face as she watched him. Then she threw herself at him. It wasn't a lunge or an attack. It was that of a girl who had lost her best friend and first love, only to have him restored to her years later. She buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing. He patted her back, trying to comfort her.

She looked up at him then, tears filling her eyes and streaming down her face. Before either of them realized it, their lips met in a soft kiss.

 _I feel like I was being choked and I can finally breathe again…_ Tahiri thought.

It was then that a deep, malevolent chuckle resounded from a few feet away. "How touching. If only it wasn't so pitiful." The speaker stepped forward, a twisted smirk on his face. Once brandy brown eyes watched the small group. Dark Side yellow surrounded the black pupils. The dark haired man laughed, a bitter, dark sound.

"No matter what you do, you cannot win, Anakin Solo. It is over before you begin," Caedus said.


	3. Changing

The room was still and quiet. No one moved, no one dared to breathe for a few seconds. In the center of the room, a dark-haired young man stood, his companions behind him, and a former Sith apprentice clinging to his chest.

In the shadows, the Sith Lord watched them, his yellow gaze as heated as the flames of Mustafar. The man who was once Jacen Solo glared at the younger man who was across from him. Anakin Solo had been dead for thirteen years, yet here he was, standing in the middle of Darth Caedus' training room.

Years before, the two of them could have stood in a similar room and fought a practice duel over their respective views of the Force. Now, one stood there in defense of the galaxy, the other because he had become obsessed with ultimate power.

Caedus smiled darkly. There was nothing that could stop him. He had defeated Jaina. There was no way a Jedi-boy who had been dead for nearly a decade and a half could defeat him. His eyes darted to the Jedi Master and the Jedi Knight behind Anakin and Tahiri. They were on guard, but they would not interfere. This was between Caedus and Anakin.

The Sith Lord ignited his scarlet blade. Anakin, in turn, brought his borrowed lightsaber up, and with a _snap-hiss_ , ignited his own blade. The brilliant saber lit the room with a soft silver-blue light. Anakin shifted, pulling his arm away from Tahiri. She backed up to where Corran and Zekk were, her eyes as wide as saucers.

For a moment, neither combatant moved, watching the other with baited breath. Then they both moved forward at the same time. Their lightsabers met with a clash and hiss. Caedus snarled and batted Anakin's blade away, only to be met by the same defense again. Anakin pulled away and sidestepped a slash.

He surged back in, pushing the duel towards the wall. Their blades met over and over again in a symphony of motion, sometimes faster than a blur. Anakin ducked under the scarlet blade, narrowly avoiding it, and drew his blade up under the Sith Lord's guard. Caedus parried it, pushing his blade down towards the younger man.

Then, Anakin caught his foot around Caedus' ankle, dumping him on the floor. Before he could pin him down, Caedus rolled and was back on his feet. "I told you, boy, you will never win!" Anakin shifted into a different stance, ready to defend and ignored the comment.

Seconds later, Anakin was forced to duck under the blood-red blade that came hurtling at his head. The blade cut into the wall and darkness enveloped all of them. But for the blades in the room, and the sparking of the cut wires, the room was as black as a starless night.

Red and blue blades clashed once more as Caedus began another offensive. Anakin blocked each cut surprisingly easily. Some time passed in the duel before the light returned. Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin could see Zekk by the char mark on the wall.

Turning his undivided attention back to the duel, he just barely managed to dance out of the way of another onslaught of attacks. If he kept this up, just barely seeming to be able to keep up with Caedus, he could lull the Sith Lord into a false sense of security. Then he could defeat him. Anakin had no intent to kill the man who had once been his brother if he could avoid it. Redemption was his first priority.

Anakin had learned much in the time he had spent in the Netherworld of the Force, including many things from the great Jedi Masters of the past. This included another technique that he held back. He never wanted to have to use it, but he would if he absolutely had to. A Jedi or Sith without the Force was still a Jedi or Sith, but they would have no power, they wouldn't be able to use it for the wrong reasons, in the wrong ways.

Anakin ducked again as Caedus brought his scarlet blade down. Anakin caught the next attack on his pale blue blade, and started to initiate the attack a little more.

Fire and ice glinted at fantastic speeds as both Anakin and Caedus let lose all restraint. Their lightsabers were blurs of color that amazed their three spectators by the beauty, speed, and lethalness of the fight.

As the battle raged on and on, both Anakin and Caedus started to tire. Finally, they broke away, both panting hard. Anakin wiped sweat from his forehead before returning to a strong stance. There was a moment of standstill before both surged forward and they clashed once more. In a sudden fluid motion, Anakin whirled, kicking the lightsaber from his opponent's hand. The carmine-colored blade instantly extinguished, the platinum hilt clattering across the floor to rest at the feet of the Sith Lord's former apprentice.

Tahiri looked down at it, then reached down and picked it up, looking at it as if contemplating the weapon. Everyone stared at her for a moment, which gave Anakin the opportunity to knock Caedus onto his back and place the glowing lightsaber blade at the Sith's throat. Anakin's ice blue eyes met his brother's now sulfurous glare.

"Why, Jacen?" Anakin asked softly. "What were you thinking?"

"I'm making the galaxy better," Caedus snarled in response. Anakin frowned.

"No, you're not. You've murdered one of your friends, and our aunt. You've chased Mom and Dad across the galaxy in an attempt to kill them as well. That alone is something Jacen Solo would never do, but then again, you're not really Jacen anymore are you?" Anakin asked. Caedus just stared at him, saffron gaze showing fury and just a little shock. "The Jacen I knew never would have done this. The Jacen I knew was a hero," Anakin said, his eyes becoming glacier-frost cold. Beneath the bluish blade, Caedus let out a bitter laugh.

"The Jacen you knew was weak, not like I am. I've got the power to change things, to make everything better, like the Jedi never could!" Caedus snapped, trying to worm his way out from beneath Anakin's lightsaber. Anakin stared at him, shaking his head.

"Power isn't the Jedi way, Jace. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is why the Jedi aren't the leaders, why we let the politicians do as they will and act as the Keepers of the Peace. We help people, not destroy them, Jacen. I'm going to give you a choice here and now. Give up your power or I will take it from you," Anakin said, surprisingly calm.

"Never," Caedus spat. Anakin's face became sad. With a sigh, his pale cerulean gaze met the once brandy-brown eyes. Anakin's expression hardened.

"Then you will face the consequences of your actions." As Anakin reached out with the Force, pushing it against the Force-presence of the man he had once called brother, Caedus realized what he was doing.

Anakin hated to do what he was about to do, but he knew he had to. If he didn't, then the galaxy would never be free of the cruelty that Caedus had overtaken it with. With a deep loathing, he let barbs of the Force hook into the presence surrounding Caedus.

A sudden wrenching shuddered through the Force for every Jedi in the galaxy. An anguished scream of pain and loss echoed within the building, turning every head that heard it. No one dared move, no one dared to breath. Seconds ticked by, and everything relaxed again.

Before the Jedi, a man lay, no lightsaber at his throat. A presence in the Force had changed. The once mighty and corrupt ruler was now powerless. He existed still, but his power was gone. Jacen Solo was no Jedi any longer. Darth Caedus was gone, wiped away, for no man could be Sith or Jedi without the Force. Jacen Solo did not have the Force as his ally anymore. Jacen Solo was free.

Bound in a cage wrought by years of misled thoughts and a choice he had long forgotten, the Jacen Solo of old had existed, but he was trapped. Caedus, the darkness in him, had slowly come to power, and slowly bound him in his mind. Nothing had stopped him, and the power of the Sith had won. Now freedom entered him for the first time in many years. Finally, things had changed. Finally, things were right again. Jacen Solo was enveloped by blackness, but not of the kind that had had been bound by.

Anakin stood with his back to his brother, watching Tahiri, Corran, and Zekk. Already, they could see a blurring to him. They could feel his presence fading.

"I can't stay," he said softly. Tears formed in the eyes of each of his companions. Tahiri threw her arms around his neck, her whole body shaking.

"Don't go, Anakin. I need you. Look what has happened to me without you," she whispered in his ear. Anakin pulled back to look her in the eyes.

"You don't have to worry about that, Tahiri. I will never truly leave you. I am always here," he said. "I'll never leave you as long as you remember me. Don't mourn, just remember, and move on. I love you, but now is not my time. My time is long past." Anakin leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, smiling very slightly when he met her eyes again. "My time ended at Myrkr, this is only borrowed time for me to set the galaxy right. Take care, Tahiri," he whispered the last part in her ear. He placed a soft kiss on her lips before backing up, a blue glow surrounding him. Bluish mist began to float in the air of the room. Carefully, Anakin handed the hilt of his borrowed lightsaber to Tahiri before his physical being dimmed. His eyes never left hers.

" _May the Force be with you…"_ a voice echoed throughout the room. Then they were alone.

Anakin had come back and saved them, he had beaten Darth Caedus, and he had brought Tahiri back from the unnatural grief that had plagued her since after the Killik Crisis. He had changed the course of their futures. He had made sure that they weren't condemned because of what they were and ended a tyranny. History wouldn't remember him as more than the young man who had sacrificed himself in the name of his cause, when he had done so much more.

But Tahiri would remember. She would always remember him, her blue-eyed angel, the one who had saved her life countless times. Nothing would ever make her forget again. Now she could finally be at peace with losing him. Now she didn't have to forget…


End file.
